


All Kinds of Women, All Kinds of Men

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Party Down
Genre: Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Sexual Content, Miscommunication, Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 09:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20133070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: Extended / alternate version of the scene in the episode "Not on Your Wife Opening Night" where Ron miscalculates Lydia's sexual interest in him and takes things way too far. Ron thinks Lydia is into him and acts on it - Lydia is not into Ron and is kinda reasonably terrified when he starts passionately kissing her without asking.  She fails to communicate to Ron that she's not into it. Ron fails to notice she's trying to get him off of her. Same thing as how it goes down in the show - it just goes a little bit further and makes everyone involved feel worse.





	1. All Kinds of Women

**Author's Note:**

> Originally Published to fanfiction.net on February 20, 2017

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Chapter 1

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"Hey I don't get it." Kyle complained as he and Lydia made their way back into the kitchen. "You know, I've tried everything... The looks, the double-entendres, and nothing." He shrugged dramatically.

"Well, some women like the direct approach." Lydia suggested, trying to help her co-worker out. He was trying to win over a woman at the theater in order to get a donation from her, and she figured, since she was a woman, and during her life she had had lots of friends who were women, maybe she could give him some pointers. "You know. Just step up, look 'em in the eye, and make your move."

"Yeah? Seems a little crude." Kyle frowned.

"Well, some women like it." She shrugged. She didn't necessarily feel that way herself, but she had known women who preferred their suitors to be pretty straight-forward and didn't respond as well to subtle hints. She'd had a friend once who got totally offended when a man was anything but alarmingly direct with her, so maybe Kyle could try to be more direct and see what came of it.

"Alright." Kyle sighed and made his way out of the room. She hoped things would work out for him. Her advice didn't always actually help people, no matter how much she wanted it to, but that didn't stop her from trying. It was entirely possible Kyle wasn't going to get this lady's attention no matter how he went about it. She might have just not been interested. Lydia didn't want to tell him that though and make him give up before exhausting his options. It was worth a try anyway.

As Lydia set her tray down, she noticed Ron standing near the wall and glancing toward her with a weird look in his eye, almost like he knew a secret and was dying to share it with her. He'd been being kinda weird all evening. Ever since he caught her looking at his pants after he'd backed into a cake without realizing it, things between them had been kind of awkward. She hadn't meant to stare, but as soon as he turned around, he started looking at her really weird and she couldn't bring herself to tell him why she had been staring. Ever since then, he had acted strange each and every time the two of them were in the same room as each other - maybe he'd found the frosting and was embarrassed. Hopefully he wasn't offended that she hadn't told him and had let him walk around the event with frosting all over him. She didn't know. She just knew he was being weird, but decided to ignore his odd behaviors just as she had been for the rest of the night, in favor of trying to be nice so that maybe the awkwardness would dissolve and the frosting thing could be forgotten.

Even though what she and Kyle had been discussing had nothing to do with him, and he likely didn't know a thing about how women preferred to be approached, she decided to include him in the conversation. "Right?" She looked up and smiled at him.

"Sure." He smiled back and nodded.

She hoped he wouldn't say anything else to bring back the awkwardness that had seemed to linger between them all night... Their last conversation tonight had been nothing short of bizarre. She'd told him she'd see him later, and he'd creepily said 'not if I see you first,' like it had some kind of double meaning. Lydia didn't even know what the single meaning of that was, unless he was implying that he'd see her while she didn't realize it, before she knew he was there, but she wasn't sure why he'd even suggest that... Was he joking about stalking her? Was he implying that he was going to be watching her without her knowledge? She didn't know. It was weird and borderline creepy, but she just figured he was trying to be funny or something and that she didn't get his joke. Lydia quite often didn't get people's jokes... but then he'd said it again and kept staring at her like he was waiting on her to say something back. She didn't know what he meant, so she'd just laughed it off and moved on.

"There's all kinds of women." Lydia continued making conversation as she grabbed a cloth and began wiping down the counter. It wasn't really that dirty, but she needed to do something to keep herself busy - both to make the night go by faster, and because she was a little unsure about participating in whatever small-talk Ron might have to offer up.

"And all kinds of men." Ron noted from behind her.

"Oh boy." She chuckled as she bent forward and leaned across the counter to reach the far side. "You can say that again."

She continued cleaning the surface, leaning far over and stretching all the way over so she could clean the whole thing without walking around to the other side. Being short sure made things difficult. It didn't take long before she felt a presence behind her... very close behind her. Lydia froze. For some reason Ron had decided to come stand within inches of her, so close that she could practically feel the heat of his legs so near to hers. He wasn't talking or helping her clean or anything. He was just standing there, looming over her.

She was almost afraid to even acknowledge it, but she was much more afraid not to. He'd been being kind of weird all night, and she was willing to put up with it, but this was maybe too far. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she could think of no innocent reason for him to stand over her like that, especially not while she was facing away from him and bent over. It was nothing but creepy.

Standing up straight, Lydia spun around and looked up at him with a frown. She hoped he had a reasonable explanation and that he'd tell her what it was pretty quickly, because she was really starting to feel uncomfortable, and even a little scared. Some men were pretty much creeps, and while she wanted to think she knew Ron well enough to not have to worry about that with him, lately she was starting to not feel so sure, especially right now.

"Hi." Ron spoke in a low voice as he stared down at her with a really weird look in his eyes and a bizarre smile on his face.

Lydia stared back, swallowing a lump in her throat. She wasn't exactly an assertive person, and often couldn't bring herself to be mean even when she wanted to be, so even though her instincts told her to shove Ron away, warn him to keep his distance from now on, and ask him what the hell was wrong with him, she settled on an uncertain, meek. "Hi...?" It was more of a question than anything, but she offered a nervous smile to go along with it. She didn't want Ron to think she was upset with him, and she wasn't really... Just unsettled by him in this particular moment.

Apparently Ron took her response as an invitation of some sort, because before Lydia could even process what was happening, he'd grabbed her, was lifting her off the ground and onto the counter-top, and was kissing her pretty aggressively on her mouth.

It was a rough, uninvited kiss, and for the first few seconds of it, Lydia couldn't even begin to think of how to respond. She opened her mouth to say something - she didn't have a plan of what it might be - just something, anything to let him know he needed to back off... but as soon as she did, Ron took the opportunity to push his tongue into her mouth and kiss her deeper.

She cried out a frantic, muffled whimper as Ron pushed her back against the counter, climbed on top of her, and continued his rather forceful kiss. She couldn't speak with his mouth covering her own, but wasn't sure what she'd say even if she could. Instead of saying anything at all, she put her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away. He pretty much had her pinned down, with his large body threatening to crush her against the counter top, so not only could she not cry out for help or beg him to stop, but she could barely move either.

"Oh, Lydia." Ron panted between kisses as he ran his large hands up and down her upper-arms.

Lydia couldn't even articulate any words at the moment. This whole ordeal was simply so shocking to her. She had no idea Ron had it in him to try to force himself on someone. Between whimpers muffled by his mouth over hers, all Lydia could bring herself to verbally communicate with were tiny, muffled, uncertain half-shrieks of fear.

As Ron continued nearly suffocating her with unwanted kisses, Lydia flailed around, looking for her purse on the shelf behind them. She knew she had pepper-spray in it, and even though she really hated to use it on someone she kind of considered a friend, she also really hated the thought of allowing him to continue with this. Even as she cried out and pushed her hands against his chest, he wasn't stopping. Unfortunately, it seemed pepper-spray was going to be her only option if she wanted to get out of this situation.

"Oh my god, Lydia." Ron exhaled as he continued kissing her and started moving his hands over her body.

Lydia squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered as she felt around behind her, knocking over numerous containers filled with various cooking utensils as she flailed about. They landed on the floor with a loud clanging noise, but Ron didn't seem to mind the noise. He must not have cared if someone heard and came in to see what was going on, or maybe he was just too in the moment to even notice.

She felt her heart sink when she finally managed to find her purse. She was flailing around so wildly that as soon as her fingertips touched it, it teetered and fell off the shelf and onto the floor. She must have grabbed at it too forcefully in her state of panic.

With a frightened whimper, she pushed her hands against Ron's chest in an effort to shove him off of her. She didn't want to outright hit him... He was clearly stronger than she was, and if she made him angry, she didn't know what he might do. She wanted him to stop, but she was scared fighting too hard might only make things worse for her. He clearly didn't have a problem bothering with consent or accepting no for an answer, but would he be violent with her? If she hit him, she might find out, but she didn't want to... The pepper-spray would have probably properly subdued him. She wasn't sure hitting him could accomplish the same result. She wasn't strong enough to hit him hard enough to stop him, and anything less could easily backfire.

"Mmm, yeah." Ron moaned as he stopped kissing her for a few seconds and focused his attention on running his hands up over her thighs, across her stomach, and onto her chest. "I've been thinking about this all night." He breathed as pushed his hands against her breasts.

"Ron, please..." Lydia finally brought herself to speak in a shaking voice as she put both of her hands on his chest and weakly tried to push him away. She felt her entire body trembling. She was scared and felt pretty betrayed. Why would Ron do this to her? She thought they were friends... And they'd worked together for a little while by now... He'd never been inappropriate with her before. It had all been so sudden.

"That's so sexy." Ron panted as he stopped groping her only long enough to reach down and grab her shirt in two fists, un-tucking it in one swift, almost violent tug and then pushing his hands up under it. She felt his fingers run gently across her skin as he pushed her shirt slightly upward and leaned down for another uninvited kiss.

Lydia closed her eyes again. It didn't seem like Ron was going to let her go. She inhaled a shaking, panicked breath. She didn't know what else to do or how else to beg him to stop. She had thought he was a nice guy - she had thought he wouldn't ever want to take advantage of someone like this... Ron was quite a tall and physically imposing man, but she never knew she wasn't safe around him. She even once felt that being around him was like an extra line of security - no one would mess with her or any of their coworkers with Ron standing around, looking kinda tough. She thought he'd use his strength to protect people - not to hurt them. But she guessed she had been wrong about him.

"Please..." She gasped in a tiny, frightened whisper, feeling more and more trapped and hopeless by the second. "Ron, don't hurt me." She begged, feeling tears springing to her eyes. She never thought she'd have to beg him not to do this, and no longer felt hopeful that doing so was going to do her any good.

"Oh, don't worry, Lydia. I won't hurt you." Ron still sounded out of breath as he spoke and seemed to ignore her hands pressing against his chest as she continued trying to shove him off of her. He must have known she couldn't possibly fend him off and therefore didn't mind her trying. "I'm a very gentle lover." He added.

Lydia squeezed her eyes shut tighter and tried to keep herself from crying as Ron pushed his hands up under her shirt. He wasn't exactly being rough, but she'd begged him not to do this and he wasn't honoring that. It broke her heart that he'd betray her trust in such an emotionally painful way. She breathed in a shaking, ragged breath and blinked back tears as she tried to take her mind somewhere else. It was hard to ignore the fact that her co-worker's hands were under her shirt while he hovered threateningly over her.

Pulling her hands into fists, she pushed uselessly against his chest one last time before finally giving up with a frustrated whimper. Fighting back did her no good. He wasn't going to let her go. She shuddered and kept her eyes closed as she felt his hands all over her body. As one fumbled around under her shirt, the other moved down toward her waist. As soon as she felt his hand gripping the top of her pants and his fingers fumbling with the button, Lydia let out a choked sob.

She still couldn't believe Ron was doing this, but he clearly was, and there wasn't a damn thing she was going to be able to do to stop him. Lydia kept her eyes shut tight to try to keep herself from being too present in this moment as she felt Ron's hand on her arm. She ignored his touch and brought her hands up close to her face, tried to shrink in on herself, and continued sobbing, hoping this would all be over soon.

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	2. All Kinds of Men

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Chapter 2

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Ron looked up from his work as Lydia and Kyle walked into the kitchen. He didn't know what they were talking about, but Lydia still seemed to be dropping hints that she wanted Ron to make a move to commence their inevitable sexual relationship. It was clear that she was into him. She'd complimented him earlier and had even been staring at his ass. He caught her doing it... He'd been trying to find the right way to hint that he was interested too, but wasn't sure if she was getting it, or if she was wanting more or what...

"Well, some women like the direct approach." Lydia spoke to Kyle. "You know. Just step up, look 'em in the eye, and make your move."

Kyle said something back to her, but Ron didn't pay attention to him. Lydia seemed to be dropping the hugest hints she possibly could. It really couldn't get much more clear than this. She really wanted Ron to just go for it, apparently. He never knew his coworker was so bold. He always figured someone like her would require a lot more effort on his part, considering he wasn't all that impressive and she seemed to be looking for someone who would get her foot in the door to make her daughter into a celebrity. Maybe she was just wanting a little fling though. Ron could deal with that. In fact, he preferred it.

"Well, some women like it." Lydia told Kyle. Ron stared at her with narrowed eyes. Was that comment meant for him? Was Lydia 'some women?' She was telling him to go for it, practically begging him to make a move. He couldn't see any other reason for her to say something like that. It was like a secret code between her and him. She seemed to be talking to their co-worker, but she wasn't. That little line was all for Ron.

He couldn't quite make out whatever Kyle's response was while all of his focus was on Lydia. The younger man shrugged and walked back out of the kitchen. Lydia stayed behind, probably purposefully taking the chance to be alone with Ron.

Finally, Lydia looked toward him and smiled. "Right?" She asked, dropping yet another huge hint. Why would she ask his opinion if she wasn't trying to say something?

"Sure." He smiled back and nodded. So sweet little Lydia preferred the 'direct approach...' It seemed a bit out of character for her, but who was he to judge? It certainly seemed like something he could manage. He was pretty good at being direct - at least he liked to think he was.

Ron continued gazing at her as Lydia turned her back to him and began making a show of cleaning off the counter top, which, he noticed, wasn't even really all that dirty. She was 'cleaning' it just so she could lean seductively over it right there in front of him. She was flirting.

"There's all kinds of women." She spoke.

"And all kinds of men." Ron nodded. She was dropping hints, big time. Her hints were so obvious he wasn't even sure he could call them hints at this point. She might as well have just come right out and asked him to take her right here and now. If this was her way of asking him to be more forward, he could certainly do just that.

"Oh boy. You can say that again." Lydia bent over and leaned all the way across the counter. It seemed to him that she was really making quite an effort to seduce him right now. And it was working.

Grinning, Ron paced over and stood behind her. He wasn't entirely sure what she wanted him to do. The way she was bent over almost tempted him to just grab onto her from behind and see where things went from there, but he really wanted to think he respected her enough as a person to at least kiss her first. She might have been pretty clear in requesting that he move it along and finally make a pass at her, but he was decent enough to move slower, even if she didn't necessarily care if he did.

Lydia paused as soon as she noticed him behind her. For a moment, Ron wondered if she really did want him to grab onto her and just go for it. She certainly was giving him enough time to, and she'd clearly seemed interested and had been dropping hints all night... She knew he was there, and yet she didn't change her position. He almost decided to go for it, but then she stood up straight and turned to face him.

He supposed it was now or never. He needed to just do what she'd been hinting that she wanted him to do. Show her that he was interested too... "Hi." Ron grinned, trying to keep his voice seductive as he looked down at her. If she responded positively to this, which he was sure she would, it would be all the hints he needed. If the direct approach was what she was after, the direct approach was what she would get.

She looked back, and seemed almost nervous. She must have been just as excited about this as Ron was. They really hadn't known each other for that long, but Ron had always thought she was cute, and strangely sexy in her own way. There was something attractive about her naive innocence and she certainly was a sweet woman. Maybe she felt similarly about him this whole time.

"Hi." She spoke back to him in a timid voice, smiling slightly as she said it.

That was all the hints he needed. She clearly wanted him, and had pretty much straight up asked him to make a move, so he was going to make one. Without another moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and planted a passionate kiss on her lips.

As he lifted her up onto the counter-top, their kiss continued. Lydia made a small noise Ron interpreted as stemming from excitement. He kissed her harder, moving his tongue around inside her mouth, as he climbed on top of her. He soon found her hands passionately groping his shoulders and arms.

"Oh, Lydia." Ron breathed out an excited breath between kisses as he put his hands on her arms as well, running his fingers over her crisp white shirt. He could practically feel her trembling in anticipation beneath him.

He kissed her again and again. He wasn't even sure if she was trying to kiss him back. Her mouth moved a bit, but it wasn't exactly a kiss... She was a strange little woman though. Maybe she didn't really know how to kiss right. Whatever it was, kiss or not, he enjoyed it. It was certainly different.

Lydia must have been excited too, as she was moving around a lot under him, knocking her hands and arms into containers of kitchen utensils on the shelf behind her and breathing fairly hard. She was really making quite a bit of noise, which should have worried Ron if he weren't so excited that they had finally bridged the awkward gap between them and that this was happening. He couldn't seem to care if anyone heard them at this point.

"Oh my god, Lydia." Ron panted as he moved his mouth passionately over hers, enjoying her little squeals of delight. He put his hands on her hips and ran them up and down her sides as she continued knocking tins of cooking utensils off of the shelf. They spilled loudly across the floor.

Ron felt her hands on his chest as she continued making small, alluring noises muffled by his mouth passionately kissing hers.

"Mmm, yeah." Ron breathed and moved his hands down to her thighs, ran his fingers up across her stomach and then rested them on her breasts. "I've been thinking about this all night." He told her as he squeezed her breasts in his hands, over her shirt.

"Ron, please..." Lydia's small, somewhat shaky voice breathed as she continued groping at his chest. She was actually shaking beneath him.

Ron grinned and reached his hands down toward the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up out of her pants so that it was un-tucked. "That's so sexy." He noted of her voice. She sounded like she was desperate for Ron to get a move on. He loved it. Ron pushed his hands up under her shirt, feeling her soft skin on his fingertips. Lydia was an unusual woman, but she was certainly attractive, and Ron was so happy she was into him too.

"Please." She gasped again, trembling under him. He never could have guessed she'd be this into him. Lydia closed her eyes and inhaled a shaking breath. "Ron, don't hurt me." She requested in a tiny voice.

Ron frowned for a second until he remembered there was a fairly significant difference in size between the two of them. She obviously just wanted to make sure he remembered that, and of course he would. He had been with smaller women before. "Oh, don't worry, Lydia. I won't hurt you." He promised. "I'm a very gentle lover."

He moved one of his hands down toward her pants as he pushed the other up under her shirt, across her ribs and toward her breast. He struggled to undo the button on her pants, but froze when he heard what almost sounded like a panicked sob.

"Lydia?" Ron frowned as he pulled himself up a bit and put his hand softly on her upper arm.

Lydia's eyes were squeezed shut and her arms were brought up in front of her, almost defensively, except that her hands were in little half-fists. She was visibly shaking and tears were running down her face. She didn't answer him or make any movements whatsoever. She simply stayed on the counter, lying rather limply aside from the defensive gesture she made with her arms and hands.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Ron frowned and rubbed his hand slightly on her upper arm. "You okay?"

She shrunk down and let out another pathetic sob, but kept her eyes closed and didn't answer. She seemed to be focusing on breathing more than anything else.

Ron moved his hand over her arm and then moved to grab both of her hands in his. "Lydia, are you alright?" He wondered. Was she freaking out because she felt guilty being with a man who wasn't her ex-husband? Had she moved on too quickly after her divorce? Maybe Ron was moving too fast. Maybe she didn't want actual sex yet... But she could have said something if that were the case. She hadn't said anything.

He held onto her by both of her hands and tried to look into her eyes, but she wouldn't open them. She whimpered and shrunk down as much as she could. He almost wondered if he should let go of her hands. She seemed to be trying to pull away from him, but didn't seem to be trying all that hard to do so.

Ron swallowed a lump in his throat. Maybe he'd misread her signals. She didn't seem happy. She didn't seem like she'd been enjoying what they were just doing. She looked scared. Ron kept a hold of one of her hands and put his other on her back. He pulled her into a sitting position on the counter and stared at her with worried eyes. He was beginning to get a terrible feeling that he'd just fucked up big time.

Finally, Lydia opened her eyes and stared back at him. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking. She shrunk down a bit and stuck her lower lip out as she looked up at him. "Can I go now, Ron?" She asked in a tiny voice.

Ron frowned. "What? Lydia, did... Did you not want..." He paused. He couldn't believe this. Had he just attacked her? She had seemed so interested... He was so painfully sure of that before... but it certainly didn't seem that way now. "Oh my god..." He closed his eyes for a moment as he realized she hadn't ever really told him she was okay with any of this. He had felt like she was implying and hinting at it, but maybe he read her wrong.

Lydia breathed in quick, nervous breaths as she looked back at him. "Wh-" She hesitated. "What were... Why did you do that, Ron?" She asked in a shaking voice as she continued shrinking down and looking at him as though he could lash out at any moment.

"Oh, god... Lydia, I'm so sorry." Ron exhaled and pressed his fingertips against his forehead. "I thought you wanted me to... You were talking about wanting someone to make a move... You were checking out my ass..."

"There was frosting on your pants..." Lydia noted in a small voice. He looked down. "It's gone now..." She added.

"Lydia... Jesus... I'm so fucking sorry." Ron exhaled. "I can't believe I did this... I misread the situation so god damn bad. Lydia, you have no idea how sorry I am. Oh my god..." He had to fix this, and the only way he knew how to was to start laughing uncomfortably, to try to turn this mess into something other than what it was. "Wow..." He exhaled with another forced, awkward,breathless chuckle. "I'm a fucking idiot, huh?"'

Lydia stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, before smiling slightly and offering a small, nervous laugh in response. "It's-" She hesitated. "It was a misunderstanding." She laughed again, still obviously shaken up, but following his lead and trying to make light of the situation. "It's okay... It's alright... Y-you know... It's kinda funny, I guess."

"Yeah. It is... It's kind of funny." Ron forced another laugh. It wasn't very funny though, and he wasn't sure Lydia really thought so either. She had been quite obviously terrified. He wanted to kick himself for not realizing sooner. That whole time, while she was making little excited noises of pleasure and anticipation... they weren't that at all... She had been crying out in fear. She wasn't asking him to please continue... She was begging him to please stop. When she put her hands against his arms and chest - what he thought was her groping him back had actually been her trying to push him away. She hadn't wanted any of that.

He felt so damn awful. She hadn't ever been interested in him. All night he'd been trying to respond to her advances, but she hadn't even really made any... As far as she understood, he was just being a creep... and he'd made sure to punctuate that point by grabbing her out of nowhere and practically attempting to rape her. He hadn't realized she didn't want it too. This made him look so fucking bad.

"Lydia, I really am so fucking sorry." Ron spoke again. "I thought you were into it..."

"I was screaming, Ron... I was trying to push you off of me." Lydia frowned and wrapped her arms around her stomach. She was still sitting on the counter, looking quite small and vulnerable, and she was still visibly trembling.

Ron shook his head. "I thought you were just feeling my muscles." He frowned. "And kinda making excited little sounds... Lydia, I didn't know you were trying to scream. Everything you did... Every response... I thought you were going along with it. I'm such an asshole."

"No..." Lydia offered another nervous laugh and shook her head. "No, you're not, Ron... You didn't know... It's okay." She assured him.

A part of him wanted to tell her that it was in fact not okay. If she hadn't started full-on sobbing, he would have kept going. Through that whole ordeal, she had been trying to cry out and push him away, and he didn't even realize it. While she suffered through the fear of what was pretty much a friend trying to rape her, Ron had thought it was just a good time for both of them. This was pretty much a sexual assault, an attempted rape, no matter if Ron had realized it or not. It wasn't okay at all, and a part of him wanted to make sure Lydia knew that. But another part of him kind of wanted to take advantage of the fact that his co-worker was so forgiving.

Maybe it would be best for both of them if they laughed this off and never talked about it again. If he told her how to feel - to feel like what he'd done was terrible and nearly unforgivable, it would change their whole relationship. She might not see him as a stupid man who got the wrong idea and might instead see him as a dangerous predator. If she said anything to anyone, he could lose his job... He didn't want her to be fearful of him, and he didn't want anyone else to know what he'd just done. It was a misunderstanding, yes, but it also couldn't have happened to anyone with common sense - or common decency. If any of the others heard that he'd tried to force himself on poor, sweet, innocent, timid, little Lydia, they wouldn't care if it was a misunderstanding. They'd think he was a monster - a cruel, violent, terrible monster.

"I'm really sorry, Lydia..." He said again.

"It's fine." Lydia still looked nervous, but he could see in her eyes that she wanted to forgive and forget. She was way too trusting - that was probably a big part of how Ron had gotten the wrong idea so easily - she was too nice to tell him to back off, and too naive to interpret his advances as anything other than him being weird.

"I mean it, Lydia." Ron insisted. "I feel really bad. I'm sorry if I hurt you or scared you... I'm really, really sorry. That's the last thing I intended to happen."

"It's okay, Ron." Lydia persisted with a somewhat forced-looking smile. "You didn't mean to do anything... I can see how you got confused. It was just a big misunderstanding. Just a, uh... kinda funny little mistake we'll look back on and laugh at. It's okay."

"You sure?" He asked. "You know I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think you wanted me to, right?" He wondered. He really wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't dangerous, but he also wanted this event to be buried and never spoken of again.

"I know." She breathed out, but still looked somewhat uncertain. "I'm sure. It's okay, Ron, really. It's already in the past. It's already just a funny story. We can laugh about it now. It's totally not a big deal."

"Yeah?" Ron frowned. "Are you sure you, um... Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone else about this though, right?" He winced. "What do you think? It's kind of embarrassing, right? We should maybe keep quiet about it?"

Lydia frowned.

"I mean, if we told anyone, they'd kinda think we're both ridiculous, right?" Ron elaborated. "Might be better for us both if we kinda forget this, don't you think?"

"Oh." Lydia stared at him with wide eyes and then quickly nodded. "Oh... Yeah... No, yeah... You're right. Yeah. Of course. We'll keep this one between us. It'll be our little secret. It's just a stupid thing we did. No one really needs to know... It makes us look kinda crazy, huh?" She laughed another nervous laugh.

"Yeah." Ron frowned as he realized how easily he'd just convinced Lydia to accept part of the blame for what had happened. As cruel as it was, however, he really needed her to feel like this wasn't something to be telling everybody, and if she thought it somehow made her look bad, that could certainly help her to keep quiet about it. "That's right." He nodded. "Makes us both look kinda ridiculous... We'll keep it between us."

He reached his hand out and offered to help her stand up off the counter. He was lucky she was so forgiving. She didn't owe it to him to be. He'd have to do something nice for her to make up for this, like buying her something or just doing her a favor later.

Lydia took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Thanks, Ron."

Ron groaned slightly. The last thing he needed to feel better about this was for Lydia to thank him right now... He'd just attacked her and then told her to keep quiet about it. He felt like such a pig... such a terrible friend.

"I guess we... should get back out there." Lydia suggested with a small smile as she tucked her shirt back in.

"Yeah... I guess so." Ron agreed.

He frowned as he followed her out of the kitchen. She really did seem willing to forgive him, and he was glad, but it also made him feel even more guilty. Maybe this wouldn't be an outward problem for either of them, but he was pretty sure it was going to stick in his mind forever. He just hoped it didn't stick in hers.

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THE END


End file.
